Nothing touches the Lord’s heart as much as the recovery of the church life. This is His recovery today. The Lord desires to recover the church life that He may have a people who have come out of every division, that He may have a place for His name and for His habitation, and that He may have the Holy of Holies in which and from which to speak to His people today.
We have seen that the top tenth of the harvest had to be kept separate, brought to the unique worship center, and enjoyed there with God. However, the Israelites could enjoy the remaining ninety percent of their harvest at any time and in any place. We in the Lord’s recovery can testify from our experience that we always have something of Christ to enjoy. Daily we are nourished and illuminated by the Word. Daily we enjoy the riches of Christ, the ninety percent of the harvest. But no matter how rich is the enjoyment of the ninety percent, it cannot compare with the enjoyment of the top ten percent. This enjoyment is found only in the church meetings. The children of Israel went to Jerusalem three times a year for the feasts. But we feast in the meetings of the church at least three times a week. I do not like to miss even one church meeting. No matter how much I enjoy the Lord at home or in other places, this enjoyment can never replace the enjoyment I have in the meetings, where we eat the top portion of Christ. Do you want to taste this top portion? Then do not stay at home, for you can never enjoy it there. Come to the church meetings.
Suppose, however, that no one in the church labors on Christ. When they all come together in the meetings, they will be empty-handed, without Christ. This does not mean that they do not believe in Christ. It means that they have not experienced Him. In other words, they have no wheat, barley, wine, figs, pomegranates, or olives. Although the brothers and sisters may have their Bibles and hymnals, they have no harvest of Christ in the spirit. Hence, nothing of Christ comes out of their mouth in the meeting. Instead, they sit there like a flat tire and wait for a certain brother to deliver a message. This kind of meeting is pitiful; it is a return to the old tradition of a speaker and an audience. Praise the Lord that the church in Stuttgart is not like this! So many of the saints in Stuttgart are full of Christ. They do not just have the Bible in their hand—they have Christ in their spirit. Thus, in the meetings there is an abundance of wheat, barley, and the other items of the riches of the good land. What a wonderful meeting it is when the brothers and sisters stand up one by one to testify of their experience of Christ!
If the church meeting is to be living and filled with Christ, the testimonies should not drag on and on. Such slow, dragging testimonies kill the meeting. We all must do our best to release the spirit so that Christ may come forth to nourish the saints. When we do this, we enjoy the top portion of Christ. This is a very important matter. Since we all have something of Christ, let us come together to exhibit Him. When the children of Israel gathered at Mount Zion, they brought their tithes together. Although each Israelite might not have had very much, there must have been a heap of firstfruits when all the tithes were put together. Eventually, there was an exhibition of the rich produce of the good land. Likewise, we need to put our riches of Christ together and exhibit them in the meetings. In order to have such an exhibition of Christ, we must do three things: first, we must have the harvest; second, we must come to the unique place God has chosen, not to a place of division or confusion; and third, when we come to the church meetings, the unique place, we must release our spirit.
When you give a testimony in the meetings, do not relate your personal history in detail. The saints do not want to hear your history; they want to eat Jesus. They want to enjoy Christ out of your spirit. Long testimonies filled with details about your personal history will simply put the brothers and sisters to sleep. Two years ago in Taipei we held a conference attended by more than nine thousand people. In order to give as many as possible the opportunity to testify, the elders decided to limit each testimony to twenty seconds. Because the attendance was so large, a microphone was used for the testimonies. At the end of twenty seconds, the microphone was turned off, and the one speaking could not continue. Nearly everyone was caught. But they received an excellent training. When you testify, forget the unnecessary details. Simply say, “Praise the Lord! Christ is my life and my light. How sweet He is, and how good He is to me! This morning my wife was giving me a difficult time. But the Lord strengthened me, and now I can shout, ‘Hallelujah!’” Testimonies like this, easily given in twenty seconds, are very nourishing. By giving this kind of testimony in the church meetings, we eat the choice portion of Christ.
In order to eat the top portion of Christ, we must have the harvest, we must go to the unique place, and we must exercise our spirit to testify in a quick, direct way. It is impossible to have the harvest overnight. For this, we must labor on the land. If we labor diligently, we shall eventually have a harvest. I believe that you all love the Lord and the church. Now the Lord is telling you that you must learn to grow Christ, to let Christ grow in you. If you do this, you will have a harvest of Christ to bring to the church meetings.
When you are in the meeting, be prepared in spirit. In some respects, functioning in the meeting of the church is like playing basketball. The members of a basketball team come to the basketball court prepared to play. Even their attire indicates that they are players, not spectators. However, many come to the church meetings dressed as spectators, not as participants. They have no intention of participating in the meeting. They are neither prepared nor equipped for this. Rather, they watch others play. Furthermore, they may be not only spectators but also critics, judging some for using poor grammar, others for being too emotional, and still others for being too sharp. Eventually such people are not happy with anything or anyone. If we come to the meeting like this, it is impossible to practice the church life.
We are still too much under the influence of Christianity. We need to be recovered, to be brought back to Christ. Day by day we must live in Christ, by Christ, with Christ, and for Christ. If we labor on Christ day by day, we shall certainly have a harvest of Christ to bring to the meetings.